3 Marylanders die in Pennsylvania helicopter crash

Helicopter fueled in NY before deadly Pa. crash

UPDATED 8:06 AM EDT Jul 30, 2013

NOXEN, Pa. -

Moments after a helicopter pilot told air traffic controllers he was losing altitude, the chopper crashed in rugged Pennsylvania woods, killing all five people on board, including three from Maryland, authorities said.

The pilot contacted a nearby tower at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday saying he would try to return to a nearby airfield, Wyoming County, Pa., coroner Thomas Kukuchka said Sunday.

"That's when he went off radar," Kukuchka said.

Early indications are the helicopter was caught in a thunderstorm, said Loretta Conley, a spokeswoman for Robinson Helicopter, the company that owns it. There were severe thunderstorms in the area in northeastern Pennsylvania on Saturday night, Kukuchka said.

The Wyoming County Coroner's Office on Monday identified the victims as Bernard Michael Kelly, 58, of Ellicott City, Md.; his daughter, Leanna Mee Kelly, 27, of Savage, Md.; Carl Robert Woodland, 29, of Lovettsville, Va.; his son, Noah Robert McKain Woodland, 3, of Leesburg, Va.; and David Ernest Jenny Jr., 30, of Towson, Md. It didn't say who was piloting the helicopter.

All five victims died of multiple traumatic injuries when the helicopter crashed near Noxen, a picturesque town of about 1,000 residents.

The Kelly family released the following statement Monday: "The members of the family of Bernie Kelly and Leanna Kelly are devastated by their tragic and untimely loss, along with the loss of the other friends on board the helicopter that crashed in northeastern Pennsylvania this past weekend. We ask at this time of grieving that the media kindly respect the privacy of the Kelly family. We will therefore not provide any further statements or information at this time."

The flight originated at Tri Cities Airport in Endicott, N.Y., the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday, correcting its earlier information that it took off from nearby Greater Binghamton Airport. Records show the helicopter, an R66 Rotorcraft, refueled at Tri Cities at 4:10 p.m. Saturday, airport manager Gerard Corprew said. He said the helicopter must have gone back to the airport at least once more because Woodland and his son were still waiting to be picked up when it left at 7 p.m.

Robinson R66 helicopters are sometimes used for tours, Corprew said, and can seat four plus a pilot. It also can be used for training new pilots.

Maryland aviation expert Keith Franz said he expects federal investigators to take a close look at the design of the R66, which debuted in 2010.

"It was viewed as being a workhorse for the new generation of helicopters. Unfortunately, it has had a number of catastrophic failures. This is the fifth fatal crash of this craft," Franz said.

But Robertson Helicopter said it has an excellent safety record, adding that federal safety officials have never singled out the design as the cause of a crash. Franz said he wonders if the Pennsylvania crash will change that.

"There is cause for concern about the engineering of this craft. It's highly unusual that this many fatal crashes would have occurred with a single model of helicopter in such a short period of time so soon after it was introduced to the market," he said.

Meanwhile, Conley said the company "is saddened by the loss of lives." She said the helicopter had been sold to a Robinson Helicopter dealer in Hampton Roads, Va.

The company sent investigators to assist the federal probe, which is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board. An NTSB official in charge of the scene did not immediately return a call for comment Monday.

The coroner and police said rough weather contributed to the difficulty of the search. The wreckage was located shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday.

Aviation experts said it could take months to get a final determination from investigators on what caused the crash.

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